Saturday, 2 June 2012

The Seven Most Alkaline Fruit and Vegetables for Preventing and Reversing Dis-ease

The Seven Most Alkaline Fruit and Vegetables for Preventing and Reversing Dis-ease

1.
SPINACH -All leafy greens should be eaten in abundance but spinach is
one of my favorites because it’s easy to buy, easy to use in recipes and
salads and is delicious. Baby spinach or fully grown spinach are
nutritional powerhouses and are incredibly alkaline. As with all green
foods, spinach is rich in chlorophyll (see more about the health
benefits of chlorophyll
here), a potent alkalizer and red blood cell builder. It is also super
high in vitamin K, vitamin A, manganese, folate, magnesium, iron,
vitamin c, vitamin b2, calcium, potassium, vitamin e, dietary fiber…I
doubt there is a more all round healthy food on earth and I highly
encourage you to eat spinach throughout the day, every day. Add spinach
to your favorite green juice or soup.

2. KALE -Kale is another
leafy green beauty that is widely known for its cancer-fighting,
cholesterol-Lowering, antioxidant-rich, and detoxifying goodness. Less
popular than spinach, but only because it has a history of being cooked
poorly (like cabbage) – when done right it is absolutely delicious. If
you eat kale 2-3 times per week you will decrease dietary and metabolic
acids. Like spinach it is massively high in vitamin K, vitamin A and
vitamin C and being leafy green it also has a huge chlorophyll content
for building and improving red blood cell hemoglobin and hematocrit. The
reason it is so powerful against acids that cause cancer is that kale
contains at least four anti-acid or acid-buffering Glucosinolates.
Glucosinolates are converted by the body into alkalizing acid-buffering
compounds that protects the body cells from metabolic and dietary acids
that are the cause of ALL sickness and disease. Also, kale is quite
amazing for lowering cholesterol because it will ower metabolic and
dietary acids that causes the release of cholesterol. It should be
noted that steamed kale is more effective for lowering metabolic and
dietary acids and thus cholesterol lowering than raw.

3. CUCUMBER
- The beauty of cucumber is it’s water content – 95%. That is
phenomenal and you won’t find that in any other fruit. It’s the grand
daddy of alkaline water-content. This of course makes it an incredibly
hydrating food to consume, that ALSO contains superb amounts of
antioxidants, including the super-important lignans. These highly
beneficial polyphenols have more commonly been associated with the
cruciferous vegetables, but their content in other veggies such as
cucumbers is gaining more and more attention. Cucumbers contain a right
load of lariciresinol, pinoresinol, and secoisolariciresinol , three
lignans that have a huge and very strong history of research in
connection with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease as well as
several cancerous types, including breast, uterine, ovarian, and
prostate cancerous conditions. The best thing about cucumber is that
they provide the base for practically every alkaline soup, smoothie and
juice – giving you a very alkaline, very nutritious base that also
tastes great. In terms of the actual nutrient RDA per serving, cucumbers
contain fair amounts of vitamins K and C, and slightly less of vitamin A
and the B vitamins. Cucumbers also contain the following alkaline
minerals: calcium, iron, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, selenium,
copper, manganese, iron and zinc.

4. BROCCOLI - Broccoli is just a
must. If you are serious about living with health, energy and vitality
you simply have to eat broccoli, if not on a daily basis, then at least 4
times per week. Broccoli has been proven over and over and over again
to be incredibly powerful in inhibiting the acids that cause cancerous
conditions. Broccoli supports the digestive system, the cardiovascular
system, the detoxification processes in the body and also supporting the
skin, metabolism, immune system, being a wonderful anti-Inflammatory
and providing ample acid chelating antioxidants. Eaten steamed or raw
its a hugely alkaline and a hugely nutritious food. Please, please,
please eat lots and lots of it. Put it in salads, juices, smoothies,
soups…steam it with other green veggies – you can even roast.

5.
AVOCADO -I eat a LOT of avocado because we grow them here at the Rancho
del Sol. Not a salad, smoothie or soup goes by without me adding at
least one avocado. I probably eat at least seven to ten avocados per
week. Now, I know a lot of people give avocado a bad rap because it is a
high-fat food (85% of it’s calories come from fats) – but this is
totally good fat. These are good fats that will not make you gain
weight. If anything, due to the high content of oleic acid (making it an
Omega 9 fat and very similar to olive oil), it can lower total
cholesterol level and raise levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDLs)
while lowering low-density lipoproteins (LDLs), also known as the
cholesterol that chelates metabolic and/or metabolic acid. Oleic fat
also slows the development of heart disease, and promotes the production
of acid chelating antioxidants. These beneficial omega oils also help
speed the metabolism, actually leading to weight loss rather than gain.
So now we’re over the fat issue, avocado also contains a wide range of
other nutrients that have serious anti-inflammatory, heart health,
cardiovascular health, anti-cancer, and will lower naturally blood sugar
acid. Containing key antioxidants such as alpha-carotene,
beta-carotene, lutein, selenium and more – it is a powerful, alkaline,
nutrient-dense superfood. The most powerful anti-acid is the
antioxidant luctein which has been shown to prevent and reverse prostate
cancer.

6. CELERY - Celery, like cucumber is a favorite because
it’s alkaline AND really high water content, so is used very frequently
as a base in juices and soups. One of celery’s big benefits is it’s
vitamin C level, which has the well known benefits – but two of it’s
lesser known nutrients are phthalides which have been shown to Lower
cholesterol and coumarins which have been shown to inhibit several
cancerous conditions. The beauty of vitamin C rich foods are that they
help with the most common and most challenging health concerns – they
support the immune system, inflammation (so helps with arthritis,
osteoporosis, asthma etc), and vitamin C also helps significantly with
cardiovascular health. If you are on a weight loss journey, you’ll also
be happy to hear that this alkaline staple contains plenty of potassium
and sodium and so is a diuretic – meaning it helps rid the body of
excess acidic fluids. Because celery is a great source of sodium, this
vegetable helps to maintain the alkaline design of the body. The high
sodium levels in celery helps to transport energy ions in the form of
electrons and is fundamental in the production of sodium bicarbonate.

7.
CAPSICUM / BELL PEPPER / PEPPER - The antioxidant superpower, bell
pepper is one of my all-time-favourites because it is crunchy and
refreshingly delicious. You can use it in almost any meal raw, steamed
or lightly roasted and it is always a winner. Impressively beneficial to
our health cartenoids are highly researched and get a lot of attention
in the health field and bell peppers contain over 30 different members
of the carotenoid nutrient family. The only other food that is close to
this is the tomato. Bell peppers have shown up in research relating to
decreasing the risk of cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, macular
degeneration, cancer, inflammation and more. Alongside these lesser
known or more complex-named antioxidants, bell pepper is one of, if not
the best food source of the more common antioxidants: vitamin C, vitamin
A and vitamin E. In fact, bell peppers contain twice as much vitamin C
as oranges without all the acidic sugar. Here are just SOME of the
antioxidants bell pepper contains: - flavonoids – luteolin – quercetin –
hesperidin - carotenoids – alpha-carotene – beta-carotene –
cryptoxanthin – lutein – zeaxanthin - hydroxycinnamic acid - ferulic
acid – cinnamic acid.